I work in oral & maxillofacial surgery and 00170 is the code used for the anesthesia the oral surgeon does. For extractions, the code is 41899, unfortunately. Most medical insurances will not consider this code & usually ask us to put the dental extraction code equivalent on the cms-1500 forms. If we do that, we generally are paid for the more complex extractions. Those dental codes can be located in your HCPCS between D7140 and D7241.

the medical code for extractions is a 41899, as it is a unlisted procedure you will need to send in documentation w/ your claim.

there are dental/medical crosswalk books out there that can help a lot for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery or Dental coding.

I realize this topic may be somewhat old, however, anesthesits are documenting 41899 where I work...

Is this the reasoning?: If a Level I CPT code for dental extractions... does not exist then it is ok to use the unlisted xxx99 code. This seems to run counter to published guidelines.

The intention of the xxx99 codes was to report completely new procedure for which there is no cat I or cat III code, something on the cutting edge of medicine. Dental caries and tooth extraction hardly seem novel. Furthermore, a cat III code should be used before an unlisted procedure code!

Should I advise the physicians against coding/documenting 41899 in the medical record for extractions, dental rehab and such given the presence of the HCPS Level II national codes mentioned and other Level I codes?

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